A fellow named Mel gave me permission to share his elegant method to locate the end of the copper tape in SteppIR antennas. The position of that tape needs to be known occasionally during maintenance. To quote…
“While putting my 2 el together, and wanting to know if everything was working properly, I put it on several bands and had high VSWR. After running the calibration, everything came out fine. But I stumbled onto a neat tool. If you are wondering whether the tape is going out properly, take your handy “Stanley” stud finder and wand the element. It will tell you precisely where the tape ends. Might save time if you think the shaft is broken without having to disassemble the EHU. I like simple solutions.”
We do too.
Thanks Mel. The use of a wall stud finder is an excellent tip.